Bitter Spark
by TsukiyomiNeko
Summary: Starscream was a not only a scientist but a femme in love with her closest friend at the Science Academy. All of that changes drastically when they're separated during their mission to a newly discovered world that has organic life. StarscreamxSkyfire
1. Prologue

**A/N: I'm on a roll today! This is perhaps my favorite pairing in the TF fandom so thats why I want to write a fanfic about it. It all started out as a plot bunny from a very funny dream that I had but this won't be as funny. **

**This so far is a oneshot but if you guys like or if I get enough reviews on it, Ill continue on it with 'cause I got chapters 1 and 2 started. So let me know what ya think!**

**Fandom: Transformers or TF**

**Universe: Loosely follows season 1 and maybe 2 of G1 but its still AU**

**Characters: FemStarscreamxSkyfire slash**

**Warnings: Lot's of angst, maybe violence and other more mature themes in later chapters, rating may or may not go up, Starscream as a femme (thats scary in its own right!)**

**Disclaimer: Hasbro owns Transformers, I don't have that luxury.**

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><p>An audible knock on the metallic door from outside her quarters brought her flailing violently out of recharge. She writhed and squirmed and fell off her berth onto the cold floor. She groaned in pain as she had landed on her wings. The person outside her door knocked again.<p>

Lifting herself up off her back and aching wings, she groaned," I'm coming! I'm coming! Who is it?"

"It's me, Skyfire. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'll be there in a minute." She replied dismissively. Her spark acted up, pulsing erratically in her spark chamber. She immediately looked her chassis over, making sure no dents or scratches marred her Seeker frame. Satisfied, she swiftly went for the door. Starscream cycled an intake of air similar to sigh to calm her down and reached over for the control pad. With quick movement of her servos, the control pad beeped, opening the door with a swoosh!

In the hallway stood a monumental and very handsome shuttle former that was a close friend to her. Her expression perked up and she beamed up at Skyfire. Skyfire returned her smile with a wide grin of his own, he asked while trying to maintain a level of control over his enthusiasm, "Are you ready to leave today? Do you have all our tools and instruments packed up; you will need to load them into me before we leave for our trip."

"Course I do! And I don't need you stating the obvious!"

"Forgive me, but I enjoy ruffling up your feathers sometimes. It is always too easy with you, Starscream. That's why..."Skyfire trailed off while he drew in closer to Starscream. He bent his head so that their helms touched, metal scraped on metal as he brought his face plates to hers. Her arms wound around his neck, her left leg popped upwards, and her frame pressed closer to his to deepen the contact between their denta and glossa. His arms wound around her back, making their way to her wings.

Servos lightly brushed against the overly sensitive parts. She let out a muffled gasped from her vocalizer as the sensations worked their way down her wings in a teasing but gentle fashion. He chuckled at the noises elicited from her as he stroked his fingers up and down the Seeker's wings. As he touched her, she could only cling to his neck while trembling slightly. When they finally broke apart, their cooling fans roared into life as their heated bodies remained in close contact with each other. Starscream lackadaisically hummed," Skyfire?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I know you do."

"Mmmmhmmm..."

"We probably should get down to the loading bay. I will meet you down there with the equipment."

"Huh?" Starscream asked. Her CPU finally came back to reality after metaphorically crashing. The trip her and her fellow hopeful scientist planned to make to the planet they recently discovered together in the Iacon Science Academy observatory, took precedence in her processor. She told herself that she had to focus on getting observational information on the planet, not how good of a kisser her mate was. She had to focus on the task that lay ahead, her relationship would have to come later. With a delayed response, she replied, "Yeah. I will meet you down there."

"See you in a little bit then."

"Yeah."

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><p>She frantically searched all over the planet yet she wasn't picking up any Cybertronian energy signatures, least of all her missing friend's signature. Starscream kept herself in denial, not wanting to realize how irrelevant her search would be for Skyfire. Skyfire and her had been separated from each other during their flight in a violent snowstorm in the artic region; she wanted to find him as soon as possible. She almost became frantic with her search, the desperation to find her friend clouded her logic units as raw emotion took over.<p>

Starscream hovered above in the planet's thick troposphere, peering down at the terrain all the while constantly checking her scanners for anything as she remained in her alt mode. If it had been any other mech, she would have left behind them (even with their science equipment) yet Skyfire was not any other mech.

Aside the Academy instructors, he was the only other bot within the Academy that she talked with on daily basis. He understood Starscream and she him. He was her closest friend and she had hoped eventually they could have been sparkmates. She needed him like an energon addict needed high-grade; he was the only real semblance of sanity within her life. Skyfire was the beacon of light that guided her to becoming a confident scientist, without him, she feared that she would relapse back into her old self, a very shy and insecure femme.

Starscream's emotional unit overrode any other programs, she had to find her friend or be turned to slag in the process.

Starscream circled the planet yet again for a fourth time, all her scanners picked up where primitive fledgling heat signatures. Yet, no Skyfire. She shifted into robot mode and landed on a plateau, surrounded by a lush forest located somewhere in the Northern hemisphere of the planet. The only forms of life were crawling little flesh creatures that had no real meaning in life except to survive to reproduce. She observed them in disgust, but they reminded her of Skyfire. She only even bothered to study biological organisms because it fascinated her friend. As she started thinking again about Skyfire, she finally broke down into a fit of lubricant. She fell to her knees and covered her faceplates with her servos. Fluids slid down sides of her onyx face and stained her once perfectly polished blue fingers.

She feared that she would never see her lover.


	2. Chapter 1: A Bitter Spark

**A/N: So I'm taking a chance and posting Ch. 1 for Bitter Spark. I've gotten some reviews from people saying they'd like to see this continue so for all you who reviewed, this is for you! Hope you guys like and enjoy! **

**Also if you guys see any discrepancies or things that stand out as a little weird please point them out to me, I really tried to keep the characters as nonOOC as possible while making this plot possible. **

**Disclaimer: Hasbro owns Transformers, I only do this to improve my writing and express my love for the fandom. **

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><p><em>TRAITOR!<em>

The words rang through Skyfire's processor as he lay on his berth. Just a few orbital cycles had passed since his first skirmish with the faction known as the Decepticons. That fight had left him exhausted both physically and emotionally. The skirmish with his closest friend and former lover had taxed his energy reserves. He needed to recharge but his processor just wouldn't allow it.

_TRAITOR!_

Her audio-wracking shrieks filled Skyfire's head; he could not stop thinking about her and the anguish in her voice as she accused him of being a double-crosser. His betrayal to the faction Starscream allied herself with was nothing in comparison to the betrayal she had committed to not only him but to herself as well. She had chosen to turn her wings on everything that she had stood for in the Science Academy. Skyfire clearly recalled what she had said back at the Arctic Circle about her desire to be a warrior more so than a scientist. Starscream may not have said it, however Skyfire knew her well enough to see her ambition, her lust for complete power maybe not as subtle as it had been in the Academy yet still present and exemplified through her acts towards her commanding officer. He put the puzzle pieces together and realized that it had kept her tied to the Decepticon cause, meanwhile changing her in the process. She was not the Starscream Skyfire had remembered from the Science Academy. She was not introverted and slightly awkward scientist who sometimes had her moments of arrogance and pride when she did something amazing with her brilliant intellect. No, sadly, the Starscream who took place her place was a cunning, wily femme who disguised herself as mech to get what she wanted, and in addition she had her personality quirks exaggerated to a higher degree than he thought possible. The unrelenting, ambitious traitor would do anything to take her place at the helm of the warship that was the Decepticon cause. And seeing this change in his once lover and to-be sparkmate made his spark hurt like a thousand blasters lacerating it. He felt broken and let down, with a little bit of fury and confusion thrown into the mix. Rage filled his system as he kept thinking about the hypocrisy of the whole ordeal between Starcream and him.

Skyfire brought his servos up to his face and let out a strangled cry. His whole frame shuddered violently for a moment.

His processor overspent with over thinking about the situation, Skyfire found himself drifting into recharge at long last. He readily welcomed the need for it.

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><p>Starscream's lip plates trailed down his exposed neck cables as her servos clung to his armored shoulders plates. Her kisses were light and gentle, reminding Skyfire of how it use to be when they were still scientists.<p>

He stroked the tips of her wings, making her gasp at the touch. Her chassis shuttered and she ceased for moment, instead snuggling her head into the crook of his neck. Her arms wound themselves around his larger frame and his rested on hers. Starscream whispered, "I love you."

A small smile graced his face at those words. He replied softly, "I reciprocate the feeling."

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><p>His optics onlined and he sat up on his berth. His spark pulsated erratically in his spark chamber from his "dream" as humans called it. His cooling fans thrummed while his body's temperature increased exponentially. It stood out so vividly in his processor; the sensations, the smells, her voice, and her body was as clear as water. At the notion of his dream, pain suddenly flared in his spark. He placed his servo over his chest armor where his spark chamber resided.<p>

Skyfire questioned himself, _How can I live like this? Even if we both are enemies now, I cannot stop myself from feeling this way for her. Maybe I need to keep myself busy to get her off my processor. _

He removed his servo from his chest armor and cycled in a deep sigh. He considered going to see the insane Autobot inventor Wheeljack since they shared similar interests (Wheeljack, Perceptor, Grapple, and Hoist had immediately taken a liking to him when he first arrived at the ARK). Then again he probably should go see Rachet for a few minor repairs on his wings. He felt so indecisive at the moment that he had no clue what to do. His shift for air patrol with Powerglide was joors away before he had to worry about repair. His chronometer told him that it was early morning. With another cycled sigh, he heaved his massive frame upwards and strode over towards the door.

Skyfire figured he would first visit Wheeljack, so that if anything happened while visiting the insane inventor, it would save him time from making two trips to the medbay. Rachet with his "cheery" temperament would not appreciate seeing him in the medbay more than once in one day. His labia plates quirked upwards at thought of grumpy ol' Hachet as the Twins called him. He had to admit that unlike being with the Decepticons, he felt more at home with the Autobots. They openly welcomed his presence save for a few who mistrusted him because of his former alliance with the Decepticons. He doubted that Cliffjumper would come around anytime soon and Skyfire was not the type to harass him for it. Skyfire did not believe that violence was the solution to any conflict. Like any problem he faced when dealing with his scientific research, he always saw more than one solution.

Skyfire's energy readings came up, bringing him back to reality and telling him his body was low on energy. He reached over to the control panel. His digits punched in the security code to his door. He reminded himself to change the encryption code after his shift ended later that day.

Skyfire's colossal frame strode out of his quarters and into the empty hallway. He lowered his wings slightly so they would not grind against the ceiling of ARK, said hallways barely accommodated his height. His pedes echoed down the deserted corridor as he clanked in the direction of the mess hall. The bright, artificial lighting almost blinded his optics for a nanoklik; in his quarters he had his lights dimmed to a suitable level for some of the nocturnal organic plants he studied in his room. He stopped for a moment to rub his optics, then he continued on.

Skyfire rounded a corner and crashed into another Autobot. On account of the Autobot's smaller size, he went flying into the wall with an "Oomph!" Skyfire on the other servo, lost his balance and landed on his aft. Immediately without noticing who the bot was, Skyfire sputtered,"I-I-I am so s-s-sorry! I-I-I should have-"

"Its all right Skyfire. I was not watching where I was going; I was so absorbed in my datapad."

"Oh no Perceptor! It was my fault! Here, let me help you up!" Skyfire immediately jumped to his pedes, ambled over to Perceptor's fallen form, and offered his large servo. Perceptor glanced up at Skyfire, taking the other mech's offer. Skyfire pulled Perceptor up while Perceptor clutched the datapad in his other servo. Skyfire noticed it and inquired,"What is the datapad for?"

"Some schematics that Hoist wanted me to look over."

"For?"

"A solar powered tower that could be of some use to us. He had Grapple look over them yet he asked me to peer review for any hidden flaws."

"Why did he not inquire Wheeljack since that is where his expertise lie?"

"Wheeljack currently has his servos busy with a new weapon he's been working on. A weapon that could the turn the tide in this war hopefully."

"Did he tell you what its for?"

"No he did not. Well I best be going, see you around Skyfire."

"Same to you." Skyfire nodded his head and made his way to the mess hall. Skyfire murmured to himself," Solar powered tower, huh?"

Not many mechs were in the mess hall at that moment, most were on different duties save for a few. Seeing a spot free in the corner, Skyfire went to the cube dispenser and once he had his low grade, he strode over towards the corner. He sat down and rotated the cube around, swishing the contents in a circular motion. He leaned his head on his free hand while his optics observed the sloshing energon. He huffed almost inaudibly,"I need to keep her out of my thoughts."

He huffed and took a swig of the energon. He felt depressed and it was like he could not escape from it no matter what he did.

From behind, Skyfire heard somebody hailing him from a few tables away,"Yo Skyfire! Why don'tcha join us!" Skyfire peered over the gap between his wings and saw Blaster surrounded by Bumblebee, Spike, Huffer, and Hound, motioning to him.

He pondered for a moment whether he really fancied joining them or not. Two disembodied voices debated within his head whether he should or shouldn't humor the others while he replenished his fuel tanks. The better side won and his resistance caved.

Standing up, he replied," It would be my pleasure to join you all."

"Come on man! Come over here so we can chat!" Blaster exclaimed while beaming up at him. Blaster's friendly enthusiasm brought a smile to Skyfire's face plates-he had to admit that mechs like Blaster made his choice easier to live with.

Spike commented, "I knew you were too nice be one of those Decepticreeps! I can't believe they would stoop so low to trick a nice guy like you into joining them."

"It sounds about right for them."

"They take human hostages whenever it's useful to them, it would not be beneath them to use manipulation and deception on other mechs."Skyfire said with a sorrowful tone, "The fact that they would harm their own race and other species clearly shows the kind of character most of Megatron's soldiers possess."

Blaster folded his arms and shook his head in disgust. He interjected," They're not called Decepticons fo nothin'."

"Yeah! That's for sure!" Spike nodded in agreement. All of the Autobots fell silent for a moment in deep contemplation. Skyfire brought the cube to his mouth, intaking the desperately needed energy his body begged for. His glossa lapped at the pink substance that slid down his gaping maw and into the crevices of his throat. He could feel the tingling sensation course through all the sensory underlay of his armor and skin plates. He chugged all of the liquid into his body, not heeding the attention it brought from the other bots around him.

"Ya really like that stuff don'tcha." Blaster stated rather than asked. Skyfire merely nodded in reply. His optics remained on the cube as he set it back down on the table. The empty cube reminded him of how his spark felt at the moment, empty and void of any emotion. The cube, porous for everyone to see through yet all they would see is the cube. They would never see the reason why remained unfilled, they would never understand what it meant.

"I better go see Rachet. Talk to all of you later." Skyfire told the other Autobots while rising up from his seat. He wanted to avoid all the negative thoughts and emotions creeping into his processor.

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><p>Her optics saw stars. The back of her helm collided with the wall as the Slag Maker punched her in the cockpit with full force. The jet cockpit glass shattered under the sheer force of his fist, sending shards everwhere. Several system failure readings came up on her HUD. Pain shot throughout her body as it went slack against the wall.<p>

Starscream wailed,"Wait! Lord M-"

"Silence you pathetic fool! You have failed me for the last time!" Megatron snarled. He marched up to her and grabbed her throat, pulling her up from her pedes. As her body slid upwards, the delicate alloy of her wings screeched against the metal of the walls. She tried to cry out but the gun-former's grip tightened severely on her neck. The force of the hold crushed the delicate throat cables and wires along with her vocal synthesizer. A gurgling noise drowned out in lavender energon and motor oil could be heard from her demolished jugular. The mixture ran down the sides of mouth her and stained her leader's gun-metal silver hand.

She tried scratching at his servos with her own trembling ones to pry them away from her, yet that got her nowhere. Her CPU exhausted itself as it was bombarded with data relayed from the sensory nodes and wires. Her entire frame quivered from the exhaustion and agony. All the brutalizing pain hit her processor in an overflux and caused it to short-circuit and crash.

Starscream's last coherent thought in the currents of her unstable, constantly shifting mind, consisted of her cursing her leader to the Pit for being such a fragger. She cursed him and his creators alike. Then like a paper in the wind, it was swept away into a turbulent whirlwind that tore it into small pieces until nothing visible was left. In place of the pieces, impending madness and darkness filled her as she temporarily offlined.

Stasis lock finally hit her processor with full force.

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><p>With malevolent, ruby optics glaring daggers at him, Megatron watched as Starscream's optics rapidly dimmed indicating his body going into stasis lock. A mixture of a whimper and burble escaped his labia plates one last time, before his head slumped forward as it went into stasis lock in his leader's crushing grip.<p>

Underneath his breath, he muttered," Pathetic!" and tossed the body to the side. He turned around and marched over to his thrown.

Feeling relieved, Megatron prefered it to be him as the only mech in the Nemesis Command Center.

His optics flickered up to the plexiglass windows; which showed the blackened outside world. Sunlight never reached Nemesis, it rested in a permanent nighttime state. The only light that was ever visible outside the creaking hull of the ship belonged to the alien fish predators hunting in the otherwise darkened world. Their lumniscent, organic bodies passed by the downed ship, acting as if it belonged to the reef and rocks. For all its gross organic squishies, Megatron admitted that Earth's ecological diversity piqued his dull processor's interest. He was no scientist so ecology or whatever they called it mattered little him. He only found the organics' struggle for survival on a daily basis at this depth, slightly fascinating and nothing more. He left the interest in organics up to weak fleshling-protecting Autobots.

Megatron shifted his focus back to his unconscious SIC. With His temper, though at its worst that day, he had managed to control it and left that treacherous Starscream fairly intact. The last time he had given his Second-in-Command the usual beating for his failure, he had almost completely torn the wings and limbs away from the mangled body. That occurred a few stellar cycles ago when that shuttle-former, Skyfire, defected. It had made the situation even worse for Starscream due to the fact that the shuttle-former had been close allies with the seeker and the seeker had specifically asked for Skyfire to join his army ranks. Starscream's lack of character judgment had irked Megatron so much that he had nearly offlined him permanently. Yet this time, his blunderings had been as usual. An unnecessary retreat from battle. As much as he hated the treasonous little fragger, he found himself unable to permanently offline him. Megatron just couldn't do it. Any other mech and he would not have been so merciful.

What was it that made this particular 'Con so fragging unique? What was so useful about him when all he did was back-stab, plot, cower and retreat all the time? Why even bother with him? Megatron just couldn't answer those questions at that point in time. In truth, he didn't really want to.

Still staring at the form, he noticed the large pool of energon forming around the body. Megatron instantly commed the medbay. He growled :Hook!:

:Yes, Lord Megatron?:

:Get two of your men in here to grab the piece of slag that's lying on the bridge floor immediately!:

:Doing it now, Sir.:

:Have it done immediately!:

:Yes, Lord Megatron.:

Megatron counted the astrocycles until the blast doors of the Command Center opened, revealing the Constructicon gestalt members, Scavenger and Longhaul. He motioned towards the bleeding mess that was his SIC. The Constructicons nodded and grabbed a hold of the seeker, dragging the limp chassis out into the hallway with a trail of energon following it. When the blast door closed, Megatron cycled in a sigh.

He placed his digits on his cranial plates, massaging them in a counterclockwise procession. He had a major processorache; sometimes being leader of a motley crew of soldiers could be taxing. Even with the hidden energon stockpile in his private chambers, the Slag Maker ran at half his normal functioning. The last few missions to get energon from the humans had all but ended badly so not only his soldiers but himself as well were running on rather foul moods.

Checking his chronometer, he realized how long his SIC and him had been locked up in the Command Center. Four joors had passed since he started the heated argument with Starscream.

Four joors too long.

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><p>The air current in the troposphere whiplashed against her and her alt. mode frame. The slipstream shrouded her, thrashing at the delicate machinery of her wings. She would have had no problem with the extraterrestrial planet's tempestuous wind currents if it weren't for the fact as she traveled in it, the unusual, white, powdered moisture messed with her visuals. She had to rely solely on her navigational systems and radar.<p>

Starscream's radar pinged Skyfire's signature slightly behind her. He was fairing worse than she in the blizzard due to his larger size and the rather heavy equipment he had to carry. It weighed down his already massive alt. mode.

Suddenly, the wind turbulence changed directions blowing Skyfire off the course Starscream travelled in.

She heard him exclaim through their shared comm. link: Star! I'm losing control!:

His signature disappeared from her radar, she began to panic at the thought of her lost friend. She tried to swerve around yet she lost control of herself and the blizzard blew her alt. mode in multiple directions at one time.

Finally gaining control Star shot through culuminonimbus clouds, entering the inner layer of the stratosphere. She transformed into root mode, her optics scanning around her to see if her friend did the same. As anxiety took a hold of her systems, she shrieked through the comm. link : SKYFIRE! SKYFIRE ANSWER ME!:

She waited for an astrosecond before trying to comm him again.

Nothing answered her back.

No Skyfire.

Not even the sound of an explosion or the crunching of metal as it impacted with the ground could be heard. She only listened to the sound of the wind howling in her audial receptors.

Her body started to shutter as despair hit her like a semi hitting a person. Her CPU crashed and everything went dark.


	3. Chapter 2: Discovery

**A/N: Here's chapter 2 to all my readers who have patiently waited for it. Its much shorter than what I wanted it to be but I swear the next chapter will be longer. I think maybe you could consider this one a bit of a filler, if you wanted to. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!  
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><p>Megatron relieved Soundwave from the security console. His optics focused in on the security cameras that displayed the Constructicons working on his Second. They removed upper body armor plating and the shattered remains of the cockpit from the mess that was his SIC. Underneath the plating revealed the peculiar protoform of the Air Commander.<p>

Soundwave probed the mind of his leader, taking in every reaction going through the Decepticon leader's thoughts. Using his telepathy, through Megatron's eyes, he observed the scene playing before him on the screen. Normally he would not have done something so dangerous as this, yet he could not help himself. He had to know how his leader would react once he found the truth.

"Her vocalizer has been completely destroyed. We'll have to replace the entire thing." Bonecrusher snarled on the screen, his lime green servos were covered in lavendar Energon.

"It'll take forever to fix all this mess! And I don't have all of the parts for this! She's gonna owe us big time!"

"Screamer without her voice is as those fragging fleshies say 'a dream come true'."

"A dream come true my aft!"

"Hook, how many energon cubes should we blackmail Screamer into getting for us this time?" Asked Scavenger.

"Last time it was two...so that's six for each of us, I'd say about 36 total. We should make it high grade too just for the trouble in having to repair her aft all the time." Replied Hook.

Megatron watched the verbal exchange with curiosity and suspicion. He brought his hand up to his chin, muttering to himself, "Energon cubes as payment for blackmail? What treasneous ploys does my foolish Second have up his thrusters this time?"

His thoughts continued on without interruption, he replayed the exchange of dialogue between the Constructicons again for a second and third time. As Soundwave saw, Megatron tried to find any thing that could point to a possible plot from his injured Air Commander in the near future with the help of Constructicons. When he went over the footage for a fourth time, he spotted something that he easily missed the first three times.

All the times the Constructicons referred to his Second, they referred to Starscream as a "she". What was the meaning of this! His optics immediately went to the unconscious chassis of the Air Commander, he finally noticed the femme-like qualities of the protoform. The qualities had been skewed with mech-like pectoral armor. Then, it finally hit him like the time Prime mauled him down while Prime was in his alt. mode (Soundwave almost chuckled out loud at that last bit of information). Starscream, his Second in Command and Air Commander, the pathetic coward and notoriously glitched traitor, had played him a fool this whole time! His SIC had been femme hiding her gender from him of all mechs! How could he not have known!

"Just wait until I get my servos on that fragging glitch-head!" Megatron roared. Soundwave sensed the frothy mixture of rancour, odium, and fury threatening to boil over the rim of the pot that was his leader. Megatron brought his fists down onto the security console, he smashed the buttons and caused the entire security system to fritz. Soundwave, who had remained at the back of room when the Supreme Leader began to take his temper on the equipment, promptly slunk out of the room. Having had knowledge of what his Commander only just then discovered after millions of vorns, he knew his leader would not be pleased and any bot with an klik's radius of him would feel the brunt of his rage. He hastily left his fuming leader.

He may have been inexhaustibly loyal to his leader, however he did not particularly wish to succumb to the fate usually reserved for the Air Commander as the Slag Maker's personal punching bag. With a deep intake and a muffled rarely heard sigh, Soundwave escaped to his quarters for the remainder of the orbitalcycle. It would be best to wait out the storm there.

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><p>The sound of Megatron's tantrum could be heard all the way down to the medbay, the Constructicons exchanged wordless glances with each other before continuing on with their.<p>

They hadn't an inkling of a doubt what had made the Supreme Commander furious over then. Although, soon enough, they would discover what had made their leader furious.


	4. Chapter 3: Pranks and Black Mail

**A/N: So finally, after rewriting this chapter at least three times, I going to post it. It took forever to decide how I wanted it to go, but, well here it is. Its more light hearted than the upcoming ones will be so enjoy it for what its worth.  
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**Warning: Skywarp's pranks  
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**Disclaimer: I own nothing!  
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><p>"Hey TC?" Skywarp asked as he sat up on the berth. He glanced over to his recharging partner. Lying on his back, Thundercracker grunted and turned his head to the wall, trying to illustrate to Skywarp that was ignoring him. Skywarp was not exactly the brightest fluorescent light bulb on Nemesis; he did not immediately pick up on the implicit meaning conveyed by his partner. He persisted in getting Thundercracker's attention. He asked,"TC, you awake?"<p>

"No." Thundercracker grumbled. Not taking no for an answer Skywarp exclaimed,"TC, I gotta tell ya something important!"

"No."

"Oh come on please!"

"I said No! Now leave me alone!"

"But its important! Pleeeeeease! Come on 'Cracker, I gotta tell ya something! You need to really know!" Skywarp prodded.

"Don't call me that! What is it, Skywarp?" Thundercracker hissed and faced his roommate. A scowl graced his faceplates. If looks could kill, Skywarp would have been dead. Thundercracker's crimson optics glared murderously at his fellow trinemate, he imagined killing his inept wingmate in the most gruesome ways possible. Skywarp smirked at his partner, egging him on to try do something about it with his own defiant optics. He taunted, "You know you love me TC, just admit it!"

"You're an idiot."

"Hah! But I'm your idiot! Remember trinemates for life brother!"

"Don't remind me." grumbled Thundercracker, he shared his irritation over the trinebond.

"Now that I got your full attention-"Skywarp was interrupted by Thundercracker. He folded his arms over his chest armor and snorted, "I wish it was!"

"As I was saying, TC, do you feel it?"

"Feel what? A processorache? I have one of those right now from being around stupid for too long."

"No, I mean over the trinebond! Do you feel that! It's like a fluttering sensation in my spark, its coming from the trinebond."

"I'm surprised you even know what to call our trinebond in the first place."

"Hey!" Skywarp called out; he scrunched his faceplates up in an exaggerated pout. Thundercracker sniggered and scoffed, "What's your point?"

"The point is that I'm getting strange emotions that aren't coming from you. Don't you feel them?"

"Maybe I feel it too, maybe not. It's probably coming from Screamer. I really don't care about it. Now let me get some recharge time before my next shift starts!"

"Come on TC...work with me here."

"No."

"Well no means yes. Do you remember how she cut us out when she started upwards in the ranks? Do you remember that day when she said she only wanted to be a trine in public?"

"You're not as stupid as you look, 'Warp. I'm surprised you can remember that far back. What about it?"

"Do you think she might be trying to open it again? I don't know why she would but do you think so?"

"I really could care less as to what she does. If she's in trouble, she can look out for herself. She's a Decepticon like us, I'm not risking my aft for her or you. Now leave me alone 'Warp, I want to recharge peacefully." Thundercracker growled while flipping himself over onto his back. His wings twitched in apparent irritation. Skywarp observed his fellow wingmate, he couldn't fight off the nagging feeling that something really awful was happening to their Air Commander.

He laid back down on his own. He felt small waves of pain pass through their bond and it wasn't coming from Thundercracker.

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><p>Thundercracker came out of recharge. He still felt slightly vexed that he didn't get the amount of time that he really needed. He questioned himself. When did he ever get good recharge time when his wingmate and he had to share the same room? The answere: Almost never.<p>

Both Skywarp and he shared quarters just slightly bigger than a janitorial closet. At one time they would have had a third person to split the space with; that particular over-inflated, egotistical somebody had decided to turn her back on them. And to add to injury, she was their trineleader. In the ancient Vosnian culture it had been unheard of for the leader of a trine to do something like that. In the Golden Ages, Vos had had strict social rules when it came to trine conduct. Back then, it was almost sacrilegious for a trineleader to abandon his or her wingmates. The trine represented what the seeker culture stood for; as a trio of mechs or femmes bonded from birth, their fates where intertwined. From the time as younglings into adulthood, their creators and instructors drilled into them the art of aerial warfare, weaponry, and military tactics. As a trine in the heat of battle, they were told they had to coordinate skillfully between themselves, in order for them to survive as a whole. They had to know each other inside and out. Each trinemate had a special task within the trine, the leader being the most important one in keeping the trine together through all odds. Yet, that was all in the past.

Now, it didn't matter. Although, unlike his sister; Thundercracker remained loyal to their trine and to the Decepticon cause. That loyalty only went so far. He would protect his siblings to extent that they remained online; otherwise if for example they were incapacitated because of injuries, he would stand by their side but he wouldn't bother helping them in any way. That was one reason why Megatron hadn't heard from either of them about his sister's hidden gender touchups to her frame. It kept her online and part of a functioning trine. He was well aware of what Lord Megatron did to femmes within the ranks if they stepped out of their station. What he did to most of the femmes during the start of the Great War spoke volumes of his outlook on the gender in general. Some femmes had been allowed into their ranks because of their skills or their usefulness to their cause. However, if Megatron even knew of Starscream's greatest deceit, he would not keep her around as SIC and Air Commander for very much longer. She had already proven various times that she could not be trusted to do even the simplest tasks without open treachery involved. She was out to claim the title of Supreme Leader and nothing would stop her, as long as Megatron remained unaware of her gender. Thundercracker had to admit that he found it slightly amusing that she had managed to persuade the TIC not to tell the Slag Maker.

Thundercracker's gaze went to his sleeping comrade, the violet and charcoal mech recharged soundlessly on his side of the room. Thundercracker lips quirked upwards while he watched Skywarp. He looked...peaceful for once. Peace was not something they as Decepticons could attain normally, what with everybody doublecrossing everybody almost on a daily basis. It was expected for every mech to stand on their own two pedes, only the strongest survived. The humans called it, "the survival of the fittest". Even though, sometimes Thundercracker had to question that logic behind the way they all lived their lives. Betrayal had left wounds that would never heal all the way. Perfidy struck home the most when it involved members of the gestalt teams or the seeker trines. Their own seeker trine had experienced it many times. And it hurt. Thundercracker would not admit it openly; the ache in his spark throbbed each and every time Skywarp and he were around Starscream.

Leaving his thoughts about his trinemates behind him, he checked his chronometer-he had less than a joor left before he started his next shift. He checked his energy reserves. They read at 23%. Just great! He exhaled as another object added itself to his list of things that ruined his day.

Thundercracker rose from his berth, looking over his shoulder to make sure Skywarp was still in recharge. It briefly crossed his mind that maybe he should get some energon for his mate, but he immediately shrugged it off. Skywarp could get his own energon if he really needed it.

When he strode to the door, he didn't see Skywarp slowly get up from his lying position and stare at Thundercracker's twitching wings. Skywarp put his servo to his face and sniggered quietly.

Painted on Thundercracker's backside, in hot pink paint, Skywarp had drawn the Cybertronian basic glyphs for the phrase, "Kick me!"TC had it coming. He always was too easy to prank; he was such a "heavy sleeper" as humans put it. He probably wouldn't get wind of the writing until much later on in the cycle. Most 'Cons weren't really adamant in helping a fellow friend out, unless it benefit them personally. Before then, mostly likely Soundwave's cassettes and maybe some of the Stunticons would take it upon themselves to actually kick TC in the cycle's progression.

Skywarp continued to imagine for another breem, what it would be like to see that happening until he had enough doing it. He couldn't take it anymore! He had to see it happen in reality.

A light bulb lit up right above his head as he had an idea. He grinned devilishly and brought his servos together, rubbing them against each other like a cartoon villain would. He hastily got off his berth and warped out of the room. With a flash of light he popped into the mess hall, landing on top of Thundercracker in the process.

_No!_ Thundercracker thought as something heavy forced him to the ground. He heard the energon slosh around in the cube as it landed on the ground. Thundercracker slowly glanced over at the energon cube and the spilt contents around it. He watched as his one daily energon ration spread itself out over the floor, some of it seeped through the cracks. Primus must have really hated him, everything that could go wrong did.

Skywarp glanced down to see who was the unlucky mech he landed on. He noticed the prank paint and the wings underneath him. He cheerily called out, "Hey TC! How's it going down there?" Thundercracker growled up at him. Skywarp chuckled at Thundercracker's obvious vexation. He noticed the cube, reached for it, and downed the last of its contents.

Thundercracker offed his optics for a klik; he quickly composed himself. He did a large intake of air through his nasal plates and exhaled. He wouldn't let Skywarp's stupidity and antics get the best of him. He had to remain calm in order to survive the next ten joors with Soundwave (of all mechs, Primus!).

"Get off me Skywarp!"He growled in further frustration as he tried to lift himself off the floor, yet couldn't because of Skywarp's weight. He huffed and slumped back down, one servo on his cheek and the other tapping on the floor impatiently. Skywarp watched the whole debacle with his red optics glinting with amusement. Thundercracker peered over his wings and shoulder, scowling at his wingmate, "You need to get your large aft off me, now!"

"Lighten up TC! I swear, sometimes you can be as bad as 'Screamer."

"Don't compare me to her." He grumbled. Skywarp heaved in an exaggerated sigh before getting off Thundercracker. He surveyed the room, finding that only two or three other 'Con were in there with them. Not the ones he was looking for. They paid no attention to the commotion caused by both of the seekers from the elite trine, much to Skywarp's dismay. Skywarp glanced back at Thundercracker's paint one last time. He outright burst into a fit of laughter, unable to control himself any longer. To add to the insult, Thundercracker looked at him with a confused expression on his faceplates, causing Skywarp to laugh even harder. He stumbled over, landed on his aft, pointed up at Thundercracker, and roared, "HA HA! Y-Y-YOUR FA-ACE!"

"Huh?" Thundercracker blurted out.

"Y-y-y-you should see your face right now, TC!" Skywarp sputtered, wiping coolant from his eyes, "you look so fragging funny when you're confused!'

"Its official, both my trinemates have lost their minds." Thundercracker said. He got up from his position on the floor. Shaking his head, he walked off towards the energon dispenser, with his arms folded over his cockpit glass. Skywarp-who now had stopped laughing-watched Thundercracker leave him by himself.

_Slag!_, Skywarp mused, _TC can be such a killjoy sometimes. _He harrumphed; he brought his arms over his own cockpit glass in a pout. He just wanted to blow off a little steam, that's all. He definitely would get back at Thundercracker for this and he knew the perfect mechs who would be willing to help him with a little black mail.

Skywarp got up from his sitting postion. He hightailed out of the rec room, his schemes taking shape in his twisted processor. With a quick pace he set his course for the command center. He surely would find the Reflector gestalt trio there; at least he hoped he would. He added them to the equation and he figured in order to get the best black mail, he would need them in his latest plans for his prank against Thundercracker.

As he came closer to the elevator on that floor, he saw Megatron exit it. He stopped in salute. He exclaimed,"Lord Megatron!"

Megatron simply nodded to him in reply and continued on. While Megatron passed him, he noticed energon stains on the tips of his claws.

Skywarp shrugged it off and continued on towards the elevator. He knew better than to question his superiors.


	5. Chapter 4: Past Mistakes

**A/N: I am very reluctant to release this chapter. You'll see why when you get further away from this author's note. Its very unbeta'd and the characters feel somewhat OOC, I tried really I did but I feel like I've failed. I attempted to incorporate elements of some of the IDW Megatron Origin, I haven't read it though so forgive me if I wrong. If it becomes obvious that Megatron is depicted as a heartless fragger, its because I'm not very fond of him. Also I made up Novas and some of the OC's are just there for show. Let me know what you guys think, cause your reviews mean the world to me!  
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**Warnings: angst, slight torture, mentions of rape and sparkling miscarriage  
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**Disclaimer: All credit for Transformers goes to their respective owners.  
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><p>Soundwave disabled the security cameras that where focused on the medbay. He couldn't bear the anguish when he watched medbay, not after what happened earlier. He never should have interfered; he should have never gotten himself involved with that glitched seeker and her problems. Contrition and odium haunted him, however foreign were their names to his glossa. It was frustrating situation that he found himself in. Since the emotions were so new, so unprecedented to him, they made him feel so helpless. He had no idea how to react appropriately to the situation. Cold, calculating logic or pure ambition, once so prevalent yet no longer there, his reactions to the dilemma were that of vulnerable sparkling, a small sparkling groping and clawing in the dark, trying to find its bearings in a crazy world. Aside the parental care he put into his symbiotes, the attachment to his superior officer confounded him and the situation that brought them together on a more personal relationship further perplexed him to that day.<p>

If it hadn't been for that one particular battle at close to doorstep of Iacon 1.4 million vorns ago, he would not be in this situation.

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><p><em>The spires and various levels of street ways crisscrossing a small sector known Novas, an Iacon suburban area which had a less densely population of Cybertronians during the Golden War, had been decimated by the Decepitcon flier cluster bombings and constant blaster and cannon attacks. While Megatron fought elsewhere with his division troops, he had left his newly appointed Air Commander, Windrazor, in charge of the aerial attacks. His lietuetants and fellow trinemates, Blazerjet and Wingpiece had done a superb job in commanding their subordinates in a correlated effort to increase further Decepitcon gain. On the ground, however, Soundwave had a tougher time. With Megatron using Devastator and Predaking elsewhere, Soundwave was left with the rather unstable gestalt combiner, Brutticus. The combiner members where rather mentally incapable of fully coporating and Soundwave could see it when he used his telepathy to see how Brutticus faired. <em>

_Soundwave scrutinized Brutticus' work on Novas. Many of the Autobots had started using guerrilla tactics, hiding in buildings and behind debris; they would fire at either Brutticus or the ground troops then flee for another hiding spot. _

_"Slag!" Soundwave grunted to himself as Brutticus stomped on some of their own soldiers, completely missing the firing Autobots just feet away. An Autobot shot at Brutticus' left leg, the shot almost devastated the leg, Brutticus went down onto his other leg to give him a moment to recover. The situation was turning volatile with each ticking breem. To the Pit with using Brutticus, he thought. He quickly dodged a blaster bolt and ducked under a slab of metal. The Autobots may not have been gaining ground, however they were stifling their efforts and Brutticus did not help either. He had to change their tactics. His chest compartment opened and he ordered, "Ravage, Lazerbeak eject. Orders: Find Rumble and Frenzy. Tell them to pull out of D-9. Assault: sections D-35 and DI-93. Their pile-drivers are needed to defend here and Brutticus." Both Ravage and Lazerbeak transformed into their root-mode then made a beeline to find Frenzy and Rumble. _

_Soundwave shifted his attention to the Decepticon fliers above, one in particular drew his attention from the fight. The seeker went into a dive from really high altitude, the red, blue, and white blended together in a swirl of colors as the seeker spinned towards the ground. Soundwave watched with amazement as the seeker came almost nose-close to the top of one building, firing null rays to decimate a few of the floors before taking off lightning speed into the sky again. Soundwave was very familiar with the seeker; it astonished him when Megatron had chosen Windrazor over him to be the Air Commander. Megatron had known the seeker since the start of the Great War, back in days when he was still a gladiator instead of the Decepticon leader. _

_As his optics remained on the dazzling spectacle, Soundwave witnessed a cannon shot hit the cockpit of the tetra-jet. Flames erupted from the damaged Cybertronian, sending it spiraling to downwards. It transformed into its bipedal mode and crashed into one of the leveled buildings. Smoke rose up from the newly formed hole in the side of the wall. Not fully aware of what he was doing, Soundwave dogded blaster bolts and rushed over to the building. For some reason, his caretaking programming kicked in, telling him to assist the fallen flier. He leapt over overturned furniture and debris, at one moment a piece of the floor two stories above almost crushed him. By hair's width he managed to evade it by darting in the opposite direction. That, however, did not deter him from reaching the seeker. He sprinted up a flight of stairs and burst into the room the seeker had landed in. His optics scanned the entire place till they landed on a prone figure with smoke rising from the wounded frame. The entire anterior portion of the upper torso plating and some of protoform had been vaporized by the shot. Soundwave gasped at the the sight before. The opened sparkchamber and its contents made Soundwave want to purge his tanks. _

_The seeker weakly moaned out as he placed a hand on his through the large hole in his chest. He shivered and whined, "Soundwave, please don't tell Megatron about this if he knew…" The seeker trailed off as lubricant slid down the ashened face. Soundwave watched the spectacle, he reined his own raging emotions. Gathering all his mental capabilities, he tore through the mental firewalls of the seeker. The seeker sobbed as he clutched his helm with his stained servos. _

_Starscream was actually a femme. The always shifting moodswings that Starscream projected it publicly had to do with her femme programming. He delved deeper and he discovered the how it happened and with whom. It explained everything, even his caretaking programming turning on. It had occured while some of the Decepticons had gotten overcharged after their most recent victory in Praxus, things had gotten out of hand between sire and her. Typical behavior in the lowering ranks. _

_Primus! Only a vorn old in her gestation chambers! How could he, Megatron's most loyal mech let this pass by without his notice, a carrier, especially a femme held precedence over all else. His thoughts immediately returned to his own processor and he thought of the safety his symbiotes. Sympathizing with Starscream's loss, Soundwave knelt down next to her. She softly cried as he placed a hand on her aileron, the loss of her first sparkling was agonizing. Soundwave shook his head and muttered, "Awareness of your stockpile: the most refined Vosnian high-grade available. Proposition: exchange of the high-grade for your secret. I also inquire that you became my berthmate. I will prevent any further occurances that produced this sparkling in return to call you my berthmate."_

_"Why? What reason would Lord Megatron's _most loyal mech_ want with a lowly flier such as me?" she choked. _

_"Seeker's frame fascinating: Never interfaced with one."_

_"Fine." The seeker murmured before offlining her optics. _

_Soundwave approved of this proposal. He finally had a source to get his growing symbiotes the necessary energon for their small bodies. And he could do something about one of the few femmes in the Decepticon army. _

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><p>His servos reached for his helm, he offlined his optics, and he shook it from side to side, dangerously violent, quick speed. His digits raked down the sides of his helm, clawing at the durable cybertromium alloy. Grinding, screeching squeals of scratching metal filled the security room. Their disturbing noises amplified as they bounced off the thick metal walls.<p>

Suddenly a warning sign pinged on his HUD of an approaching Decepticon.

Reaching with his telepathy, Soundwave delved into the mech's mind. It was Starscream's wingmate Thundercracker. He immediately searched through the data logs of the upcoming shifts. Slag! Thundercracker was listed under security duty on the roster.

Soundwave brought up his memory files from the last few days. Due to the lack of available hands in the security division, Soundwave had reluctantly inquired Megatron to make a list of the mechs that could be use to improve efficiency on Nemesis. He couldn't let the mech discover what had happened in the medbay, Megatron had specifically ordered that this little incident be kept "under wraps". He planned how he would get the seeker to focus on the other video feeds and sound recordings.

Soundwave composed himself right when the blast doors opened. Thundercracker strode in, his faceplates pulled into a grimace. Soundwave turned around to face his subordinate, he kept his intakes slow and steady.

His vocalizer rang out monotonous and synthesized," Thundercracker of Megatron's Elite Air Command: You are assigned as my security assistant as of 1000 Earth time. You will spend the next megacycle here. You will report any anomalies in footage and recording to me. Your first task: focus on cameras 1 through 9 and monitor on all incoming and outgoing transmissions. The transmissions are encrypted and scrambled: password to encryption program is in the datapad. Your are to change it out after two joors. The datapad contains the next password: its next to console to your right. Understood?" He didn't wait for the seeker to answer. Soundwave pointed to video feeds he wanted Thundercracker to look at. After pulling what the lower ranking soldiers would call triple shifts, Soundwave felt slightly relieved that he could finally get some recharge. He knew that Thundercracker was not the type to get into affairs that did not concern him, he would do what he was asked and that's all. He figured he wouldn't have to worry about camera 17.

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><p>3 joors prior<p>

Starscream onlined herself to finding she was alone in the medbay. She shifted her chassis into a sitting position on the the berth. She winced ever so slightly when a flash of pain hit her recently repaired body. Her crimson optics made a sweeping glance of the medbay, looking for any subtle sign of another mech in there with her. She relaxed her frame a little when she found nothing. She had no intention of explaining to other Decepticons why her current thorax armor plating resembled something like a femme.

No Constructicons. No other patients. No pranking Skywarp. Good!

Starscream was not particularly in the mood to contemplate on what she should do about her depleted stash of bribery for the Constructicons. She didn't want to think about what they would do if they found out that her hidden stash of energon was virtually nonexistent now. As much as she hated to admit, she felt slightly thankful that those aft-heads had kept their end of the bargain in their vorns-long agreement and hadn't ratted her out to the stupid fragger of a leader.

Lax in being alert of her surroundings, Starscream's sensors failed to relay the data on the distinct EMF fields and the soft, thrumming machinery of two other 'Cons coming from behind her. From behind came the distinct, all too familiar grating voice of Megatron.

"It would seem that my most notorious second in command has finally onlined, Soundwave. What do you think we should do with her?

"Unsure of punishment: Lord Megatron." Starscream's optics widened in unadulterated trepidation. Her wings held high and her body stiffened but also quivered as a shiver slid down her back struts and wings.

"That's too bad my most loyal third in command; I had hoped that you could have thought of some creative way to punish her. It looks like I have to do all the thinking around here, you are dismissed Soundwave! Return to me with the Constructicons when I call for you later!"

"Yes Lord Megatron!" Soundwave saluted. Starscream did not dare look over her shoulder to see her fellow officer leave the medbay. With her processor's firewalls at their all time low, Soundwave easily broke through her mental barriers. His voice distinction and clear in her thoughts, 'You left me no choice. I had to tell him.'

Then his presence was gone. He left her there all alone with biggest glitch that had ever walked on Cybertron, and he had the bearings to apologize. She was tempted to yell," FRAG YOU SOUNDWAVE!" but she knew it would only worsen her situation with Megatron. Speaking of the devil, Megatron let out cackle similar to a stereotypical witch standing over her brewing, bubbling, fizzing cauldron. Though the crackling of his vocalizer was not as bad as Starscream's, it still hurt the audios. She adjusted them to a lower setting.

Many times, Starscream faced the same predicament with her leader, many times she cogitated whether she would or wouldn't be permanently offlined for good; yet this time she considered it to be the real deal. Her CPU calculated within a 33.7% probability chance of getting out of this current predicament, it quenched the hope within her spark. It seemed like a rather grim situation to find herself in just a matter of orns after just being repaired. She only hoped that Megatron's fusion cannon would aim true to her spark and smolder the embers of her being away with one blow.

"Many a time, I questioned myself why I would keep a little fool such as yourself alive. Your pitiful blunders have tried my patience for the last time, Starscream."Megatron intoned as he made his way around the berth. Starscream opened her mouth to say something in response, but nothing came out except for a crackling noise. Megatron chuckled darkly, "I specifically order the Constructicons not to repair that glitched vocalizer of yours. An improvement if I do say so myself."

Her entire frame began tremble at the thought of what Megatron would do to her. He watched her like a hawk, sadistic amusement clearly visible on his faceplates. He came closer to the berth until, he was inches away from her. In a low voice, he sneered, "When I am done with you, you will solely belong to me! From now on, Starscream if you so much as even think to doublecross or withhold information from me, I will not hold back from punishing you severely! You sorry excuse of a Decepticon! I will have your aft sent back to Cybertron to be reprogammed by Shockwave as a pleasurebot! Your trinemates will lose all credible standing in my army and you will be demoted so far down in the ranks that you will be nothing more than the whore of the Decepticon cause. You will obey me fully from here on out! Do I make myself clear, femme?"

Her mouth slightly agape and optics widened, she had an incredulous expression plastered on her face. Her head slightly went up and down as she nodded. Starscream still couldn't believe it! Megatron knew the secret that she had spent millions vorns trying cover up! The fragger Soundwave would pay for his betrayal!

"Good! Now as for your punishment for never telling me that you were a femme..." Megatron paused, backhanding Starscream in the process. Her servos went to her cheekplates, her digits ran over the heated spot from where Megatron had hit her. Her optics narrowed and she glared defiantly at her commander. She had the urge to make a snide comment, if only her vocalizer had been working properly. If there wasn't any other time she loathed her _oh so glorious leader_, now was the time her hatred coursed through the deepest energon lines in her body. His contempt and self-gratifiction with constantly abusing her, marred any worthy praise she had had for him in the past.

Megatron took hold of both her wings, his digits digging deeply into them. His iron grip brought waves of agony spiraling down Starscream's backstruts, she was grateful that for once he would not get the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in pain. She would endure it without a sound, only in her CPU would she shriek out.

As Megatron crushed the hypersensitive alloy, a thought came to her.

Starscream removed the sparkbond inhibitors and attempted to open the trinebond to her wingbrothers. After several attempts, she began to feel the faint presence of Skywarp and Thundercracker. With this opening she immediately tried to send her emotions through to them in small hopes that they would answer to her call for comfort. She didn't expect them answer, but apart of her wished they would.


	6. Chapter 5: Taming the Shrew

**A/N: MUST READ! This chapter is drawing a fine line between T and M. I tried not to go into full detail of what Megatron did, I will say though that all through ways of interface exist. So you guys can put together which one he used. And I did my best with writing script, in other words I failed. XD  
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**Also thanks guys for all your reviews, they make me want to continue this story just for you guys. Sadly there may or may not be another chapter after this and everything else I'm working on gets put on HIATUS for a few months. RL has decided to interfere with me updating so it'll be until at least May before I can update again.**

**Warnings: Slight gore, mentions of non-con interface and physical assault  
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**Disclaimer: Everything except my mind belongs Hasbro/Takara, I only write because it helps me get better.  
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><p>Megatron held the jet wings in both his servos. His optics scrutinized the dripping energon, falling metal scraps, and damaged circuitry hanging loosely from the lacerated edges. A malevolent smile crossed his faceplates.<p>

Megatron looked from the wings to the convulsing body laying on the medical berth, the limbs twitched and the torso spasmed vehemently. The cooling fan desperately ran to cool the overheated frame, so hot was it that all moisture touching it instantly turned into steam. The fire engine red paintjob located near the dorsal part of the chassis was convoluted with splattered energon. There was also energon and other questioning fluids marring the lower region of the chassis. Megatron admired his work, sadistically proud of the feat he had accomplished; he finally reigned in his treacherous second. In a haze of pure insanity, he felt giddiness well inside himself at that fact. No more failed attempts at his life and power from that fragging femme, Starscream was his to command as he pleased.

Megatron nonchalantly tossed the wings onto the berth where they landed on top of Starscream's shattered cockpit. Shards went flying and the glass crunched as they landed on top. He purred with an air of smugness,"You are to be grounded for the next orn and after the Constructicons patch your sorry aft up. You **will** spend the next eleven joors in the brig. The Constructicons have been ordered not repair your wings."

Megatron switched over to a private comm. frequency, hailing Soundwave: You can bring Hook in, Soundwave. :

:Yes Lord Megatron.:

:And Soundwave...inform Hook that he is not to mention the extent of the damage besides that of the wings to anybody.: Megatron was fully aware that Hook would talk to his Constructicons and word of what happened would get around. He was fully intent on further marring his Second's reputation, in the end she will be coming to him. She would be begging for his protection from the other mechs, once everything got out in the open! And, he would happily offer it to her under certain conditions.

: Yes Lord Megatron.: Soundwave replied on the other end. Megatron thought he heard an air of unease in his Third's voice.

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><p><em>COMMAND: -?Processor_Functioning_70%<em>

_…MotorFuctions_Starting_up_

_ Memfiles_data_corrupted—_

_ Degrafmentation_started_

_ SysDiagnostic_started-#_

Starscream came out of stasis lock, but didn't online her optics. Her processor remained clouded, every sensor node throughout her body screamed in agony. She couldn't feel the air flowing from the medbay vents against her sensory net that lined her wings. Why couldn't she feel anything from them? Were they malfunctioning?

Then it hit her. Everything came back to her, all her uncorrupted memory files from the last few cycles rushed back to her in a flurry that could have overloaded her CPU and processor.

She immediately shot up from wherever she had been resting. An all too familiar voice squawked from right next her, "Hey! Hey!Take it easy will you! You're going to open the freshly mended wounds if you over exert yourself!"

She looked at him, unsure how to answer him.

"You need to defragment, but here I'll fill you in on what cannot be retrieved from your corrupted data files, Lord Megatron did a number on you. Your CPU crashed after awhile; my guess is that it happened after he tore your wings off. I don't want to clean up the mess that it'll make, as if you haven't caused a big enough mess here already!"

"H-He actually did it?" She croaked as her facial plated heated up in shame and humiliation. She immediately turned away from Hook. The only good news was that she had her vocalizer repaired. She wasn't surprised that he would see the other damage done to her frame, but the idea didn't help at all. Megatron had done more than just humiliate her this time. He had taken her wings and a large part of her dignity. He did it in the most vulgar way possible. He took what he wanted and treated her like a pleasurebot, he never considered if she had interfaced that way before. Not like he normally did that to begin with, but it showed how complacent she had become. From what she from Soundwave, he never interfaced with any of his soldiers. Even as punishment. What he had done would haunt her like the time Shotgun had tried to force a sparkmerge with her when he had been so overcharged off his aft. Sparkmerge was even more personal. They were bonded for only a orns before Shotgun had been killed by an Autobot. Then, she ended up with a miscarriage of the sparkling and the reason why this whole mess started in the first place.

"Don't act as if it's anything new. You knew he would do it once he found out." Hook remarked, as if reading her thoughts, "Your acting just like every other mech who has undergone forced interface. Your nothing special."

She dimmed her optics and slowly shook her head. She was not like every other mech or femme, she was Megatron's SIC!

Those roaming hands of his, so mockingly gentle over her chassis. The forced kisses and bites and then the removal of her last part of her dignity stood out so vividly. The pain of the first penetration, the beating, the abuse, and the sheer agony from her wings being torn off while he had his way with her still fresh in her processor. Moreover, he threatened to do it all again, in public if he caught her in another mutiny. He would continue to degrade her.

How she just wanted to hide away from her disgusting state at that moment, no amount of cleaning in her personal wash racks would dissipate her filth. No amount of wishing would keep her from her she was headed, she had to "save face" as the foolish fleshings put it. She was the Decepticon Second in Command for fraggin sakes! She had to be strong enough to pull through her inert claustrophobia and look at the Slagmaker in the optic!

Hook interrupted her thoughts when he leaned forward and muttered, "So about those energon cubes you owe us, I was thinking 52 would be a decent asking price."

"WHA?" She shrieked. Her repaired vocalizer cut out into static as she strained with the raised pitch of her voice.

"That's meant to cover my superior repair job on you twice and the mess I had to clean made the price rise. I'm sure you understand. We did keep our end of the bargain."

"Do not remind me what I already know, medic. You should know your place!"

"I am not going to let you walk out of here without reminding you of our bargain, Air Commander. I can say that at least my team and I know where we stand, I'm not sure about you."

"I know where I stand!"

"Well I guess since you're _lovely_ vocalizer and body is finally functional, I'll tell Megatron your ready. I am sure he is dying to know how you pulled through here. He would want to know that you recovered from your 'last bout'. Can't say I envy you, Screamer."

"Don't call me that! And I'll do it myself, thank you!"

"Of course you will."

"I will speak to our glorious leader without the interference of a poor excuse for a medic such as yourself!" She sneered. She tried putting a facade of arrogance and superiority, even if she was in pain. It was her final defense.

She heard Hook utter, "Looks somebody has her head so far up afterburner, she forgot about her pummeling from last time." She simply ignored him, yet she dreaded contacting Megatron. His last assault was still too fresh in her databanks.

She took a moment to see if her comlink had been deactivated.

No. At least she would have that while she spent her time in the brig. Listening in on the conversations between 'Cons, would lessen her flying-deprived anxiety that would overcome her as she spent the next eleven joors in the brig. Opening up a private comm to Megatron, she said :Lord Megatron I have recovered.:

:Ah, its good to _hear_ you up and about, Starscream. I will be there shortly to escort you to own personal cell, my _ever so loyal second_.:

:Yes, Lord Megatron.: She replied void of any emotion. That was all he saw in her - she was his property. The title of Second in Command did not even mean a thing to him. Even after all both of them had been through! It meant nothing! She had been by his side since the beginning of Decepticons! Like Soundwave, she had been there before he could claim the to be the Supreme Leader over the Decepticon cause! Frag him for denying her any credit to his success! Frag him for all the slag he caused her!


	7. Chapter 6:  Then and Now

**A/N: Hey, guys here is the unbetaed chapter, I had to upload using html on my phone so its not perfect. I'm sorry for any spelling or grammatical errors. I won't have internet access for awhile so it'll be hard for me to update. Hope you enjoy it, took me forever to find my muse for it. Disclaimer: Hasbro/Takara own TF, I just wish I did. **

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><p><em>Engines grumbling in vexation, Skyfire marched into the Fired Circuit. An assortment of mechs and femmes (almost all grounders) hung around the back-end alley bar, not really in the slums yet far enough from places like the Iacon Science Academy where he knew he could get some privacy. He just wanted to waste the energy from his afterburners to his pent-in rage in the sloth served as high-grade there, just a place he unwounded often when things back at the Academy turned rather ugly. He was not a violent mech, and he would not resort to violence no matter how angry he got. The newly appointed dean and most of the professors treated him like a subclass Cybertronian, even though he was not of the war build models, they still despised him for being one of the few fliers attending. And there was not much he could do about it. Which, made matters worse. He let himself sulk in an empty booth away from where most of the hubbub occurred around the holo screens. They mostly played races, one or two were dedicated to the Arena fights in Kaon. Bots who sat round those screens bet credits with each other over winners, and made noises contrary to when they either won or lost. Definitely not a place where he would catch one of his colleagues at, which lightened his mood considerably. That was until he noticed a pair of wings familiar to him, strutting towards him. <em>

_"Slag!" Skyfire hissed under his intakes as he downed the rest of his high-grade. His optics traveled from the wings to face he knew all to well, his lab partner was coming towards him and they hardly got along. A very opinionated yet somewhat shy and awkward femme seeker, he would have seen her as the ideal mate if it hadn't been for her fiery temper tantrums when things didn't go her way and the fact that she was more ostracized than he was. Skyfire didn't need to add fuel to the fire, he had it bad enough. Yet here she came up to his spot, denta glinting off the low lighting in a smirk and crimson optics blaring bright with mirth. _

_"Well what do we have here? Skyfire, I did not take you for the kind who hung around a dump like this." She taunted him. _

_"A pleasure to see you too, Starscream. Pray, tell what brings you here to my boring side of corner? You, yourself do not seem like the kind to hang around these parts either." _

_"I come here on accord of my trinemates, you never met them have you?" And like a magic trick, two other bulkier and slightly taller seekers appeared next to Starscream's side. One remained aloof while the other beamed at Skyfire with a devious glint in his red optics. Starscream continued, "This, Skyfire are my trinemates and brothers, Thundercracker and Skywarp. TC, 'Warp this is my lab partner in the Academy, Skyfire. The only shuttle former in the Academy."_

_"Sooooo your the shuttle that Scree here keeps blabbering on about all the time! She never shuts her vocalizer up about you! Always, Skyfire this and Skyfire that-"_

_ "SKYWARP!" Starscream squawked indignantly at the the other seeker, he flashed her smile then winked at Skyfire. A few of the mechs sitting closer to them watched the interaction dully. Starscream lunged forward to attack, but before she could Thundercracker took a hold of her wing and pulled up at it. Her thrusters left the ground, she squirmed in his grasp, and hissed to him, "Put me down this instant, Thundercracker! That is an order as your Winglord and trine leader!" _

_"I will if, and when, trine leader, you control yourself in public." He stated coolly as he continued to have a glaring contest with Starscreamer. The edge of Thundercracker's lip plates quirked upwards. She crossed her arms and pouted like a youngling. Skyfire couldn't help but chuckle at the manhandling done by his partner's trinemate. She immediately broke eye contact from Thundercracker to glare daggers in his direction. She squawked at him,"This is **not** funny, Skyfire! Tell him to put me down, now!"_

_"He is your trinemate. You tell him."_

_"ARGH! I will get you for this Skyfire! **And you** Thundercracker! Let go of my wings! Now!" She commanded. _

_Thundercracker shrugged and replied with an even bigger smile, "If you say so Screamer." He let go of her wings and she fell onto her aft. She growled at him before getting back up on her thrusters. _

_Pointing at Skyfire with a blue claw, she snarled,"Your inviting us to drink some energon with you! You owe me that much!"_

_"I do not owe you anything." _

_"Yes, you do! Remember two mega-cycles ago, you had to be rushed to the infirmary due to a nasty virus that invaded your systems and I had to do your research and you still got credit for it."_

_"Fine, since I seem to be the only sensible one. Have some high-grade, it is on me." _

_"That's better." Starscream said. She sat in the cushioned seat next to Skyfire while her trinemates placed themselves in the seats across from them. _

_They spent the rest of their time, in the Fired Circuit chatting away as the high-grade loosened them up until they were all overcharged. From that point on, Skyfire blacked out. _

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><p>"You can online your optics now." Stated a voice, as dull orange, was the first thing Skyfire saw from coming out of stasis. The blurry outline of red and white moved around towards the corner of his vision. He noticed the detail of the red chevron attached to a white helm become clear first, and then everything followed. It was all just another memory purge.<p>

"Well, your firewalls are up to speed. You have all the lasted software updates and virus protection available." Ratchet stated while Skyfire propped himself on his elbows, "I think your good, Skyfire. Now off with you!"

"Thank you, Ratchet-"Skyfire was interrupted from his gracious thanks when something caused the medbay to shake rather vehemently at the foundation of the bedrock.

Ratchet growled through clenched denta, "Wheeljack! I swear I'm going to weld his arms to the berth if he comes here dismantled again! Or reformat him into a human pleasure toy!"

"Well we better hope he does not come in that way then." Skyfire chuckled lightheartedly. He had no idea what a human pleasure toy looked like, but Ratchet would keep to his word if Wheeljack did come into his medbay as spare parts. Now that would be a sight to see.

"He better not! Go and check on him, Skyfire." Ratchet remarked. He stood leeringly over Skyfire's form with a wrench in one servo. His wings shuddered as the wrench came closer to his head.

Skyfire nervously commented, "I'll do it right away, Ratchet. You can um…put the wrench down. There is no need for right now."

"If you don't get your aft out of here in the next microsecond, I'll do the same to you!" Ratchet threatened, waving the wrench in Skyfire's faceplates.

"Yes Ratchet." Skyfire immediately got off the berth and stumbled towards the medbay door; his gyros were still slightly off kilter. They would return to normal functioning soon enough - hopefully soon enough to where he could easily hide in a storage closet from the medic if he found the ARK's eccentric engineer scrapped from another one of his explosions. If it hadn't been for Prime, Wheeljack would have been the death of all them on the ARK; not only him, but one of those devious twins and their pranks, or the Decepticons could fall in that category. As he blundered through the hallway to Wheeljack's lab, another shock shook the ARK.

_What could he possibly be doing in there? _Skyfire asked himself. He reached the door, keyed in the codes on the keypad. The door immediately opened, smoke (and were those flames?) coming from inside the threshold. Skyfire placed a hand over his faceplates and tried comming Wheeljack through the main line. No answer! He shifted over to a private frequency that they both had established when they weren't able to talk due to contradistinctive duties. Skyfire calmly inquired :Wheeljack? Come in. Are you alright?:

:Ugh…I'm not that great Skyfire. My pedes have melted to the floor and second blast ignited a chemical fire. Slag!:

:What is it Jack?:

:My pedes will have to be sawed off. My comlink is malfunctioning. You better hurry and get Ratchet. And also maybe Grapple and Hoist too.:

:I will be right back Wheeljack, don't move.:

:Ha ha I wish I could.: Wheeljack nervously chuckled through the line. Skyfire then contacted both Grapple and Hoist and told them of situation. Yet, when he tried Ratchet, he found the line encompassed in static like Wheeljack's. With no other option, he quickly paced himself back to the medbay – the large wings structures on his back clattered against the metal of his armor from his agitation. Ratchet's foul mood would definitely darken at the news of Wheeljack, and he would be on the receiving end as the messenger.

Gulping some sticky lubricant inside his mouth, he reentered the medbay. He found Ratchet and Prime in a far corner discussing something, grave from the looks of Ratchet's expression.


End file.
